Loading
  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

Kipling (TTC)

Kipling is the western terminus station of Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway system. The station is served by buses and subway trains operated by the Toronto Transit Commission and is adjacent to the Kipling GO Station on the Milton line of GO Transit and the Kipling Bus Terminal, where passengers can connect with MiWay and GO Transit bus services. It opened on November 21, 1980, as part of the extensions west, to this station, and east to Kennedy station. It is located in the Islington–City Centre West neighbourhood on St. Albans Road at Aukland Road, west of the overpass of Kipling Avenue, after which the station is named. The 900 Airport Express bus route connects Kipling to the Toronto Pearson International Airport.

History

A train in the station, with the original wall slats visible, in 2009

An official opening ceremony for Kipling and Kennedy stations, in what was then the Borough of Etobicoke, was held on November 21, 1980. This pair of one-stop extensions at opposite ends of the Bloor–Danforth line were opened to the public the following day. Kipling and Kennedy were designed similarly, with both stations having an island platform that is typical of terminal stations. The outer platform walls at Kipling were originally two rows of vertical yellow vinyl slats separated by a black strip showing the station's name in Univers font. This wall treatment was replaced by off-white fitted enamelled panels using the traditional Toronto Subway font with black trim with smaller lettering along the top in a 2017 renovation, evoking the older stations along the line.

In 1999, this station became accessible with the addition of elevators, one of the first accessible stations in the city.

As a result of the initial lack of density near the station, and its location near a hydro substation, it was originally designed around commuter travel, with a large amount of parking spaces (over 1,300) and a roughed-in platform for a future light rail or light metro line, like the Scarborough RT at Kennedy.

In the early 2020s, a new regional bus terminal was built on the site of the Kipling North commuter parking lot. Serving both MiWay and GO Transit, the bus terminal opened in 2021. An underground tunnel links the subway station to the regional bus terminal, and an accessible link bridge connects to the Kipling GO Station. As of 2022, 1,067 commuter parking spaces remain, located south of the station in the hydro corridor.

Facilities

The main entrance is located at the west end of the station, with access to the GO station, commuter parking lots, and a kiss and ride area for passenger drop-off. An entrance at the east end makes the bus platform level accessible by way of a ramp, with an elevator providing a connection with the train platform below. Fares can be paid for at this station by using tokens, tickets, passes, as well as the Presto card. Currently it serves the high density residential and commercial developments that are being built, while acting as a hub for commuter travel.

Above the subway tracks on the south side of the station, opposite the bus bays on the same level, is an unfinished platform for a proposed but never-built Etobicoke RT line similar to Line 3 Scarborough.

East of the station towards Islington, the line continues on the surface alongside the railway right-of-way which parallels Dundas Street at a distance. It crosses over Bloor Street to the north side alongside the railway tracks, then dives underground below the tracks and turns parallel to Bloor.

Kipling Yard

Currently the tail end tracks west of the station can be used to store 2 cars sets.

There were plans to establish a yard to replace Greenwood Yard (and allow Greenwood to be dedicated to the since-abandoned Relief Line) and potential exists for Metrolinx and the TTC to purchase land on the former CPR Obico Yard bounded by Shorncliffe Road and North Queen Street for a shared storage facility for subway cars and GO trains. Most of the former CPR intermodal yard, an open area not occupied by structures, is now owned by the City of Toronto and been partially used to store TTC buses since 2019 as North Queen Yard and other yards were leased out.

Surface connections

Kipling station concourse
Bus bays are a level above the subway trains on the north side of the station.

The TTC bus platform is in the fare-paid zone, allowing passengers to quickly transfer between the subway and the following TTC bus routes:

Bay Route Name Additional information
1 111 East Mall Northbound to Eglinton Avenue West (Willowridge & Richgrove)
2 112B West Mall Northbound to Renforth station
112C Northbound to Disco Road
3 123B Sherway Southbound to Long Branch Loop via Shorncliffe Road and the East Mall
123C Southbound to Long Branch Loop via Shorncliffe Road and North Queen Street
123D Southbound to Sherway Gardens via Shorncliffe Road and the East Mall
123F Southbound to Sherway Gardens via the West Mall
(Rush hour service)
Wheel-Trans
4 900 Airport Express Northbound to Toronto Pearson International Airport
300A Bloor–Danforth Blue Night Westbound to Toronto Pearson International Airport
300B Westbound to the West Mall & Burnhamthorpe Road
5 40A Junction–Dundas West Eastbound to Dundas West station
49 Bloor West Westbound to Markland Wood (east of the Etobicoke Creek)
6 44 Kipling South Southbound to Lake Shore Boulevard and Humber College Lakeshore Campus
944 Kipling South Express Southbound to Lake Shore Boulevard and Humber College Lakeshore Campus
(Weekday service)
7 927A Highway 27 Express Northbound to Humber College North Campus
927B Northbound to Steeles Avenue West
927C Northbound to Humber College via Attwell Drive
(Rush hour service)
927D Northbound to Steeles Avenue West via Royalcrest Road
(Rush hour service)
8 46 Martin Grove Northbound to Steeles Avenue West
300A Bloor–Danforth Blue Night Eastbound to Warden Avenue & Danforth Road
300B Eastbound to Kennedy station
9 45A Kipling Northbound to Steeles Avenue West past Etobicoke North GO Station
45B Northbound to Carlingview Drive via Belfield Road
10 945 Kipling Express Northbound to Steeles Avenue West
(Rush hour service)
  • Some 300 Bloor–Danforth trips do not enter the bus terminal, but can be accessed at Aukland Road at Dundas Street.
  • A courtesy bus used to be operated by IKEA between Kipling station and the IKEA Etobicoke store. However, service was discontinued due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. ^ "The Built Subways". Transit Toronto. Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  2. ^ "Subway ridership, 2023–2024" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved November 12, 2024. This table shows the typical number of customer-boardings made on each subway line and the number of customers travelling to and from each station platform on a typical weekday in Sep 2023–Aug 2024.
  3. ^ "New Kipling Station". The Toronto Star. November 20, 1980. p. A18.
  4. ^ Blackett, Matthew (March 25, 2008). "Ride the Rainbow of the Bloor–Danforth". Spacing Toronto. Archived from the original on November 30, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
  5. ^ Bow, James. "Kipling: Trivia". Transit Toronto. Archived from the original on February 28, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  6. ^ Bateman, Chris (June 23, 2012). "Whatever Happened to the Etobicoke RT?". blogTO. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
  7. ^ Wanek-Libman, Mischa (May 21, 2022). "Construction of Kipling Transit Hub complete". www.masstransitmag.com. Archived from the original on February 9, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  8. ^ "Kipling Station". www.ttc.ca. Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  9. ^ "Kipling: Accessible Alternative". Archived from the original on June 7, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  10. ^ "PRESTO card". Presto card official Twitter feed. July 21, 2010. Archived from the original on August 22, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
  11. ^ "Kipling - Transit Toronto - Subway Station Database". Archived from the original on December 3, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  12. ^ "Old Time Trains". Archived from the original on December 3, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  13. ^ "Kipling Station: Connections to". Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
  14. ^ "IKEA Etobicoke: Store information". Archived from the original on August 5, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  15. ^ "Does IKEA offer Shuttle bus service? - IKEA Canada".

Media related to Kipling station at Wikimedia Commons